English 101 & English 113: Composition I

English 101: Composition I - This course covers writing the expository essay; emphasis on revising and editing for development, coherence, style, and correctness.

English 113: Composition I for International Students - This course for non-native English speakers covers writing the expository essay; development of fluency and emphasis on revision, development, coherence, style, and editing for improvement of target-language accuracy. It satisfies the ENG 101 requirement for non-native English speakers.

ENG 101 is the course in which most first-year students enroll. Core Writing students are placed in 101 if their ACT English score is 21 to 29, their SAT Verbal/Critical Reading score is 510 to 670 or they have completed ENG 098 with a grade of "S."

English 101 is an introduction to the rhetorical process, emphasizing audience, purpose, and occasion of writing. Students receive an extensive background in strategies of planning, drafting, and revising. The emphasis in English 101 is on students developing voice and authority in communicating their own ideas and experiences to a specific audience. Research--both library and firsthand--is introduced as a means by which students can extend their own understanding through the use of outside resources, but these are the center of ENG 102. Revision is a major emphasis in the course.

In ENG 101, students produce 16 to 20 pages of polished writing, collected in a portfolio comprising four or five major assignments ranging from literacy narratives to proposals (the exact assignments chosen by the instructor). Persuasive argumentation, library research, and documentation are introduced in ENG 101. Readings are assigned from a variety of sources but tend to focus on nonfiction essays. Students generally read 20 to 40 pages per week, depending on the balance of reading and writing their instructor has selected.

Learning Outcomes

Students are expected to achieve the following outcomes:

Recognize, articulate, and respond to different rhetorical contexts;

Practice strategies for purposeful, concrete development of topics, for example by using writing to record, explore, organize, and communicate;

Interpret, analyze, discuss, and evaluate a variety of readings;

Use multiple drafts and peer review to improve their own texts;

Use generating, organizing, revising, and editing strategies that are appropriate to specific writing situations;

Use reflection to examine personal experience, expertise, writing process, and sources to compose;

Write understandable, efficient sentences;

Control general conventions of usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation in standard written English.

Core Objective 1: Effective Composition & Communications

Silver Vein I: Fundamental Practice

Brief Description of Learning Objective: Students will be able to effectively compose written, oral, and multimedia texts for a variety of scholarly, professional, and creative purposes.

Core Objective 3: Critical Analysis & Use of Information

Silver Vein I: Fundamental Practice

Brief Description of Learning Objective: Students will be critical consumers of information, able to engage in systematic research processes, frame questions, read critically, and apply observational and experimental approaches to obtain information.

Additional Information for International Students

International students attending the University are placed into appropriate Core Writing courses based on TOEFL scores, interviews, and special placement arrangements, all through the Intensive English Language Center. International students, therefore, have the same access to Core Writing Program courses as any other student and are expected to complete these courses in the same way.

However, those students for whom English still poses special challenges may be directed into (or elect) to take an alternative sequence of composition courses: ENG 113 and 114. For international students, these courses fulfill the university's composition requirements through ENG 102. As such, course outcomes are identical to ENG 101 and 102, and are described in tandem on the Core Writing Program website. In the deployment of this course content, however, instructors are expected to show increased sensitivity to the needs of second-language users and tailor scaffolding assignments to their differential language skills during what is also for many of these students a period of intense cultural adjustment. Assignments could include narratives of encounter or an explanation of something important in the student's national or ethnic culture. Whatever the instructor's choices, reading, writing, and revision activities in ENG 113 and 114 still should match those of ENG 101 and 102 respectively.

Instructors for ENG 113 and 114 are selected through a special application and after particular qualifications, training, and/or experience have been verified. While one cannot elect to teach ENG 113 and 114 (e.g., on the semesterly course preference form, unless one has already been previously approved), if you possess the additional skills necessary to work with second-language learners, you may inquire with the Core Writing program in order to have your name and credentials passed on for consideration for future openings.